Golf ball ejector and flag post for putting cups

ABSTRACT

A cylindrical plug is inserted in the central opening in the sloping bottom of a conventional putting cup, the upper portion of the plug projecting above the bottom and terminating in an annular upper edge. An ejector plate in the cup has a central aperture, the edge of which rests rockably on the upper edge of the plug-thus providing a universal fulcrum which permits the plate to be tilted in any direction to eject a golf ball from the cup. A central locating post at the upper end of the plug extends loosely through the aperture in the plate to prevent displacement of the latter. A removable flag post may be used with the cup, the flag post having a circular base which rests on the cup bottom. The base is provided at its underside with a recess which accommodates the ejector plate and the locating post on the plug. When the flag post is removed from the cup, its base enables it to stand upright on the ground. The flag post may also be used with the plug in the putting cup, but without the ejector plate.

United States Patent [191 Hamilton et al.

GOLF BALL EJECTOR AND FLAG POST FOR PUTTING CUPS Inventors: Georges Edmond Hamilton, 7400 Sherbroke St., West, Apt. 607, Montreal; William Horace Hamilton, 30 Lakeshore Rd., Apt. 606, Pointe Claire, Quebec, both of Canada Filed: Mar. 14, 1973 Appl. No.: 340,938

US. Cl 273/34 A Int. Cl A63b 57/00 Field of Search 273/34, 179, 180

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1929 Hart 273/34 A 9/1930 Lockwood t 273/34 A 10/1931 Kip 273/34 A 3/1971 Stapleton 273/34 A FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7/1936 Great Britain 273/34 R Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Larson, Taylor & Hinds [57] ABSTRACT A cylindrical plug is inserted in the central opening in the sloping bottom of a conventional putting cup, the upper portion of the plug projecting above the bottom and terminating in an annular upper edge. An ejector plate in the cup has a central aperture, the edge of which rests rockably on the upper edge of the plugthus providing a universal fulcrum which permits the plate to be tilted in any direction to eject a golf ball from the cup. A central locating post at the upper end of the plug extends loosely through the aperture in the plate to prevent displacement of the latter. A removable flag post may be used with the cup, the flag post having a circular base which rests on the cup bottom. The base is provided at its underside with a recess which accommodates the ejector plate and the locating post on the plug. When the flag post is removed from the cup, its base enables it to stand upright on the ground. The flag post may also be used with the plug in the putting cup, but without the ejector plate.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDFEB 51924 SHEEI 3 OF 3 GOLF BALL EJECTOR AND FLAG POST FOR PUTTING CUPS This invention relates to new and useful improvements in golf ball ejectors for putting cups used on putting greens, the principal object of the invention being to provide a very simple and highly efficient ejector which may be easily actuated to eject a ball from the cup so that the player does not need to bend over in order to remove the ball by hand.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improved ejector which may be readily installed in conventional putting cups without requiring any structural modification thereof. As such, the ejector device of the invention comprises a cylindrical plug which is inserted in the usual hole or opening in the bottom of a conventional putting cup, the plug'projecting above the bottom and terminating in an annular upper edge. An ejector plate disposed in the cup is provided with a central aperture, the edge of which is rockably seated on the upper edge of the plug. Thus, there is provided a universal fulcrum arrangement, by which the ejector plate, when actuated by a putter head or handle, may be tilted in any direction to eject the ball from the cup onto the green. A locating post at the upper end ofthe plug extends loosely through the aperture in the ejector plate to prevent displacement thereof from the post.

In conjunction-with the foregoing, another important object of the invention is to accommodate a flag post on the locating post of the plug in the cup, either with or without the ejector device, an important feature of the flag post being that it has a large circular base which rests on the bottom of the cup and is capable of supporting the flag post in an upright position on the ground when the flag post is removed from the cup, thus again avoiding the necessity of the player to bend over and pick up the flag post which has fallen to a lying position on the ground, as often happens with flag posts of conventional types.

The ball ejector and flag post arrangement of the invention is very simple in construction, easy to use, and lends itself to economical manufacture.

With the foregoing more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features which may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like characters of reference designate like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional putting cup with the ball ejector of the invention installed therein;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the flag post in position; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2, showing the flag post in the cup but without the ejector plate.

Before describing the invention in detail, a brief explanation may be given of the common procedure which a player follows when practicing on putting greens. If the player sinks his first putt in the cup (which seldom happens), the flag post will enable him to remove the ball from the cup without bending down. However, if the player fails to sink his first putt, he normally will first remove the flag post from the cup before making subsequent putts, this being done because the flag post while in the cup makes the entry of the ball into the cup more difficult. Most conventional flag post do not have the ability to stand upright on the ground when removed from the cup. Thus, they fall to a lying position and the player is required to bend over and pick them up. Other conventional flag posts have a pointed lower end for insertion in the ground in order to stand upright, but this causes damage to the putting green. After the flag post has been removed and the ball has been sunk into the cup, the player must also bend down to remove the ball from the cup. This repeated bending down to retrieve the ball and the flag post is eliminated by the invention, as will hereinafter be apparent.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, more particularly to FIG. 1, this shows a conventional putting cup designnated generally by the reference numeral 10. The cup has a frustoconical bottom 11 sloping toward a central hole or opening 12 in the usual manner.

The ejector device of the invention is designated generally by the numeral 13 and comprises a substantially cylindrical plug 14 which is inserted in the opening 12, the intermediate portion of the plug being diametrically enlarged to form an annular shoulder 15 which is seated on the bottom 11 of the cup, as will be apparent. The upper portion of the plug projects above the cup bottom and is upwardly tapered, terminating in an annular upper edge 16.

A circular ejector plate 17 is positioned inside the cup and is formed with a central aperture 18, the edge of which rests rockably on the annular upper edge 16 of the upper portion 14a of the plug. This provides a universal fulcrum whereby the ejector plate may be tilted in any direction, as indicated for example by the dotted lines 17a.

The plug 14, including the portion 14a, is formed with an axial bore 19 which accommodates a bolt 20. The upper end of the bolt has an enlarged head which is seated against the upper end surface of the plug portion 14a. The bolt head extends loosely through the aperture 18 in the ejector plate 17 and constitutes a locating post which serves to prevent displacement of the ejector plate from the plug portion 14a. The post 21 has a dome-shaped extremity 21a, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described. The screw-threaded lower end portion of the bolt 20 projects below the plug 14 and carries a nut 22 to secure the bolt in position.

When a golf ball B is sunk into the cup, it comes to rest on the ejector plate 17. By using a putter head or handle, the player may depress the ejector plate on one side, thus causing the plate to tilt on the fulcrum means 16, 18 to the position indicated at 17a and this ejects the ball from the cup onto the putting green, as at 23. The need for the player to bend down to retrieve the ball from the cup is thus completely eliminated.

Reference is now drawn to FIG. 2 which shows the conventional putting cup 10 with the ejector device 13 therein, all as already described in connection with FIG. 1. However, FIG. 2 also shows a flag post 25 applied to the putting cup, the flag post being provided at its lower end with a circular base 26, the marginal edge portion 27 of which rests on the bottom 11 of the cup. The underside of the base 26 is formed with a recess 28 in which the ejector plate 17 and the locating post 21 are disposed, the recess including a central domeshaped portion 28a which receives the aforementioned dome-shaped extremity 21a of the locating post, thus serving to locate the base 26 in a centralized position in the cup, that is, on the slanting cup bottom 11, so that the flag post 25 stands in an upright position.

When the flag post 25 is in position in the cup, the ejector device 13 is inoperative. lfon his first shot the player manages to sink the ball B into the cup, the ball comes to rest on top of the base 26 of the flag post and may be ejected from the cup by simply removing the flag post 25 with its base 26 from the cup, the flag post base in this instance serving as the ball ejector. However, if the player does not sink the ball in the cup on the first shot, the flag post 25 with its base 26 is removed from the cup and the player continues with subsequent shots until the ball enters the cup, whereupon the device 13 is utilized to eject the ball.

When the flag post 25 is removed from the cup, its circular base 26 is large enough to support the flag post in an upright, standing position on the ground. This distinguishes from some conventional flag posts which are unstable, either because they have no base orbecause their base does not have a flat bottom. Such conventional flag posts therefore must lie on the ground and the player must bend over in order to pick them up. In using the flag post of the invention which stands upright on the ground, such bending over is eliminated. Other conventional flag posts have a pointed lower end for insertion in the ground in order to stand upright, but this damages the putting green, whereas the base of the flag pole of the invention merely rests on the ground and causes no damage.

FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional putting cup with a flag post 125 applied thereto, but without the ball ejecting device 13 such as exists in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the arrangement of FIG. 3 still utilizes a plug 114, similar to the plug 14, which is inserted in the bottom holes 12 of the cup, the plug 114 having an enlarged upper portion 114a which rests on the cupbottom 11. The top of the plug portion 1 14a is provided with a central locating post 121.

The flag post 125 is equipped at its lower end with a circular base 126, the marginal edge portion of which rests on the bottom 11 of the cup as at 127. The underside of the base 126 is formed with a recess 128 which accommodates the upper portion of the plug 114, the recess having a central locating region 128a. This receives the locating post 121 of the plug and serves to maintain the base 126 in a centralized position on the cup bottom 11.

When the player sinks the ball into the cup, it comes to rest on top of the base 126 of the flag post and may be retried by simply removing the flag post from the cup, with the base 126 serving as the ball ejecting means. When the flag post is removed from the cup, the base 126 serves to support it in an upstanding position on the ground, as already explained in connection with the post 25. While some conventional flag posts have a lower end shaped so as to fit into the hole 12 at the bottom of the putting cup, such a lower end is not capable to support the flag pole in a standing position on the ground, after its removal from the cup. Also, the bottom hole 12 in the cup often becomes filled with leaves, dirt, mud, et cetera, so that it is difficult to insert the lower end of the conventional flag post thereinto. It is to be noted that by utilizing the plug 114 (FIG. 3) or the plug 14 (FIGS. 1 and 2) in the bottom hole 12 of the cup, accumulation of leaves and other foreign matter in the hole is prevented.

While in the foregoing there have been described and shown the preferred embodiments of the invention, various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

1. The combination of a conventional putting cup having a frustoconical bottom sloping toward a central opening, and a golf ball ejecting device comprising a cylindrical plug inserted in said opening, the upper portion of said plug projecting above said bottom and terminating in a circular upper edge, and an ejector plate positioned in said cup and provided with a central aperture, the edge of said aperture rockably resting on said upper edge of said plug, thus providing a universal fulcrum whereby the plate may be tilted in any direction to eject a ball from said cup.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 together with a central locating post projecting upwardly from the upper end of said plug and extending loosely through the aperture in said plate, whereby to prevent displacement of the plate from said plug.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein an intermediate portion of said plug is diametrically enlarged to provide an annular shoulder resting on the bottom of said cup.

4. The device as defined in claim 3 wherein the upper portion of said plug between said annular shoulder and said annular upper edge is upwardly tapered.

5. The device as defined in claim 1 together with a removable flag post extending upwardly from said cup, and a circular base provided at the lower end of said flag post, the marginal edge of said base resting on the bottom of the cup and the underside of the base being provided with a recess in which said ejector plate is disposed.

6. The device as defined in claim 5 wherein a central locating post projects upwardly from the upper end of the plug and has a pointed tip at the upper end adapted to fit into a tapered recess in the underneath of the circular base of the flag post to act as a guide and position the flag post in the centre of the putting cup.

7. The device as defined in claim 5 together with a central locating post projecting upwardly frim the upper end of said plug and extending loosely through said aperture in said ejector plate, the recess in said base of said flag post having a central locating region in which said locating post is disposed.

8. The combination of a conventional putting cup having a frustoconical bottom sloping toward a central opening, a cylindrical plug inserted in said opening with the upper portion of the plug projecting above said bottom, a locating post projecting upwardly from the upper end of said plug, a removable flag post extending upwardly from said cup, and a circular base provided at the lower end of said flag post, the marginal edge of said base resting on the bottom of the cup, and the underside of the base being provided with a locating recess in which said locating post is disposed.

9. The device as defined in claim 8 which is further characterized in that said base permits said flag post to stand upright on the ground when the flag post is removed from the putting cup. 

1. The combination of a conventional putting cup having a frustoconical bottom sloping toward a central opening, and a golf ball ejecting device comprising a cylindrical plug inserted in said opening, the upper portion of said plug projecting above said bottom and terminating in a circular upper edge, and an ejector plate positioned in said cup and provided with a central aperture, the edge of said aperture rockably resting on said upper edge of said plug, thus providing a universal fulcrum whereby the plate may be tilted in any direction to eject a ball from said cup.
 2. The device as defined in claim 1 together with a central locating post projecting upwardly from the upper end of said plug and extending loosely through the aperture in said plate, whereby to prevent displacement of the plate from said plug.
 3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein an intermediate portion of said plug is diametrically enlarged to provide an annular shoulder resting on the bottom of said cup.
 4. The device as defined in claim 3 wherein the upper portion of said plug between said annular shoulder and said annular upper edge is upwardly tapered.
 5. The device as defined in claim 1 together with a removable flag post extending upwardly from said cup, and a circular base provided at the lower end of said flag post, the marginal edge of said base resting on the bottom of the cup and the underside of the base being provided with a recess in which said ejector plate is disposed.
 6. The device as defined in claim 5 wherein a central locating post projects upwardly from the upper end of the plug and has a pointed tip at the upper end adapted to fit into a tapered recess in the underneath of the circular base of the flag post to act as a guide and position the flag post in the centre of the putting cup.
 7. The device as defined in claim 5 together with a central locating post projecting upwardly frim the upper end of said plug and extending loosely through said aperture in said ejector plate, the recess in said base of said flag post having a central locating region in which said locating post is disposed.
 8. The combination of a conventional putting cup having a frustoconical bottom sloping toward a central opening, a cylindrical plug inserted in said opening with the upper portion of the plug projecting above said bottom, a locating post projecting upwardly from the upper end of said plug, a removable flag post extending upwardly from said cup, and a circular base provided at the lower end of said flag post, the marginal edge of said base resting on the bottom of the cup, and the underside of the base being provided with a locating recess in which said locating post is disposed.
 9. The device as defined in claim 8 which is further characterized in that said base permits said flag post to stand upright on the ground when the flag post is removed from the putting cup. 